


Chemistry (JohnDave)

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Dave has a breakdown, Dave is vulnerable, Hammertime - Freeform, John helps him out, M/M, Oneshot, Pepsicola, johndave - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 21:49:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6825826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John notices Dave in the hall at school. <br/>Dave notices they have chemistry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chemistry (JohnDave)

The halls were crowded, as usual. Students shoved each other to get to their classes or to greet friends, shoes slapped against the tile floor, lockers banged shut or clattered open. Yes, the halls of the juniors were constantly jamming to discordant notes.

Which was why it was considered odd for John to have noticed him. That blond-haired boy leaning against the wall, shades over his eyes as usual, hands shoved into his red jacket pocket as usual, but something was different.

John had him in only one class, and that was Chemistry, the final class of their day. That boy was always in the same position in that class – John would know, it was torture trying to see the board with the way the blond sat. He always leaned to the side, his head tilted the same way, and his hands would usually be in his pockets or hanging off the chair. He usually held such a relaxed position, calm and generally not caring. So why did he seem so tense against the wall?

The raven-haired junior decided to investigate. He closed his locker and managed to weave through the sea of students, tripping a bit and muttering apologies on his way over. The blond, who he remembered to be named Dave, took no notice in him coming his way until he was standing right in front of him. John now saw that Dave’s pale cheeks were streaked with tears and he was trembling from head to toe.

The warning bell rang, signaling a minute for students to get to class. John stayed where he was, eyes on Dave in what he hoped to be a gentle beckoning for the other to talk. Dave only stared back, or so the teen assumed. It was difficult to tell with his shades on. When it was clear the boy wouldn’t speak up, John took the first step forward into a conversation.

“Are you okay?”

Dave let out a shuddery cough and a wet sniff before shaking his head. The cool kid that everyone saw in class was now so vulnerable, so different. And it hurt John so much.

“Do you need to go to the nurse? She’ll help you out.”

Again there was a shake of the head, locks falling in front of his shades. John briefly wondered if the boy would consider getting a haircut.

“Are you sure? You look pretty down.”

“I’m fine.” Dave’s voice betrayed him as it cracked, and he coughed again, turning his head to the side. John had on the smallest of frowns as he cautiously took Dave by the shoulder and started walking him to the nurse’s office. On the way there, he was finally told that Dave broke down over the fact that he was failing Chemistry.

“It’s fucked up,” Dave said later on in the nurse’s room, a cup of water in his shaky hand. “I’m great at every other class, but I fall short in Chemistry.”

John was seated in a black chair next to the paper-covered bed, and he nodded to show that he was listening.

“I’m just afraid.” The other stared at his cup of water in defeat. “I got up to this point all on my own, without my big bro to help me or anything, and this is how I’m going to go down?”

The nurse came back in and checked Dave, offering to let him stay a little while longer since it was in fact the end of the day, and school only had twenty minutes left. It was John who accepted the offer for the young Strider, knowing that the last thing he needed was to enter the class that had started the breakdown in the first place. And it was Dave who pleaded with the nurse to let John stay with him, saying there wasn’t a point for him to return to class with so little time left.

Once the nurse had left again, John looked over to Dave. “I’ll help you.” He gave him the biggest grin when he saw the look of surprise cross his face. “With me helping you out, there’s no way you’ll fail.”

For once, Dave, cool kid Strider, had no words. Except for the softest smile to ever cross his lips and a quiet “Thank you.”

So it was settled. John would go to Dave’s house at the end of every day to help him with Chemistry. Dave’s attitude towards it was negative at first after he had gotten the tears out of his system, too proud to accept the help and instead tried to get John to play video games with him. But after the first week, he warmed up to Egbert coming over and helping.

By the second week, John realized Dave had faint freckles dusting across his cheeks. He found this out after the two fought over a pen when Dave refused to give it back. John had to get dangerously close to retrieve it.

By the third week, Dave complimented John on his eyes, saying that they were brighter than the sky, to which prompted John to ask about Dave’s eyes. This led to a slight argument, John snatching the shades off, and tears in both their eyes as they apologized to each other, John for taking the shades away, Dave for snapping at him.

By the fourth week, the shades were off whenever John was around at Dave’s place, and the third quarter was drawing to a close. It was around this time did they both noticed their feelings for the other. It was Dave who acted first.

“Hey, John?”

“Yeah?” John glanced over to his friend as he closed the textbook on the desk. Dave’s room was surprisingly neat, except for the turntables in the corner which were buried in papers and clothes. “Don’t tell me you didn’t understand this session as well.”

“No, it isn’t that.” Dave had on a casual smirk as he leaned back in his chair. “We have chemistry.” John blinked twice at him, as if not understanding what he was saying.

“Yes, Dave,” he then said slowly. “We have Chemistry together. I am here, helping you in Chemistry. I am John, you are Dave.” The response was a soft shove on the shoulder.

“I meant we have chemistry. Like, you and me, in a…relationship type of way.”

It took four seconds for the words to click together in John’s head, one second for his face to go completely red, and three seconds for him to lean in and kiss Dave on the lips. And Dave only took two seconds to kiss back.

Because yes they did have Chemistry together.

But they also had _chemistry_ together.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was an excuse to use a chemistry joke, and I decided what better pairing to use it on than my two favorite dorks?


End file.
